July... Her Birthday Month

31 Jul:  at the Inn at Long Trail (click here) will mark the end of Her Birthday Month.  Happy, happy birthday to my beloved SmoochSmooch; may you have many, many, many more.  I love you.  We have enjoyed and exhausted ourselves hiking this month.  The good news is that we were able to do more at the outset this year.  We slept well, enjoyed a leisurely breakfast followed by more puzzle mountains, and were ready to hike at 11 AM.  After a good night's sleep, Cynthia is raring to go hiking again, but we will limit our exposure to three hours because pop-up thunderstorms are forecast at 2 to 3 PM.  We hiked to the sinkholes after Cynthia clobbered Ron with a brick sized piece of wood she threw off trail with strength and vigor, point-first directly into Ron's shoulder.  He decreed, "no more trail maintenance" to protect himself from the WeeFee's errant aim.  The heavy, pointed wood bruised his shoulder, which will likely be sore for a week.  Regardless, he loves her just the way she is - although it might be nice if she learned to look before throwing.  Reggie has created a passion fruit sorbet at the Inn which is terrific.  His previous sangria sorbet was also amazing.  We really, really like Reggie although there isn't room on the motorcycle to adopt him, despite his enthusiastic appeals.  We consider both the sorbet and the Irish soda bread to be desserts.  (Ron, the incorrigible, has taken to ordering sorbet first as appetizer and later as dessert.)  The last sudoku and the puzzle mountains are done.  All that is left is a bit of sky.  Puzzling trumped SCS packages.  GMC 3 hrs, cleaned several water bars by digging debris out to enlarge the existing water bars.

30 Jul:  Oatmealed, the exhausted Smooch family plans to hike three times to the Inn today, maybe 25 yards total.  Mr. Smooch is already back in bed.  It felt good to lie down and take a brief nap.  Except for discomfort in his hands and wrists, he feels quite good after that rest and nap.  Lo and behold, someone started a100-piece jigsaw puzzle in the Inn.  Ron put together the lake as his initial contribution.  Now he is finally set to resume working on the Likens package for the SCS.  We did have a lovely quiet day until we walked to the pub for dinner; a spoiled infant's ear-piercing screams were severe enough for us to flee the pub (as did ALL of the many other customers); Ron returned to the jigsaw puzzle and Cynthia fled to the lounge.  Ron mused that this was probably the main reason that women and children were prohibited from entering bars in the good old days.  From the highest heavens, thunder roared louder than the screaming toddler, preceding one of the heaviest deluges Cynthia has seen in a long time.  (Ron was oblivious, puzzling.)  The electricity may go out??  We may not get dinner??  Fifteen minutes later, the rain stopped.  The toddler and her overwhelmed parents left the pub, so we were able to eat in the now-empty pub.  Ron returned to work on the mountains in the puzzle.  After some progress, he allowed his conscience to force him to return to consider the Likens package, but then we stay up far too late.  Cynthia said good night at 11:30, Ron got to bed an hour later, and Cynthia got points for first "I love you" of the day while Ron was being ever so quiet to avoid waking her.  Total for the day: 195 steps.  Good night.  

29 Jul:  Heaven forfend, the housekeepers arrive today.  Ron has to straighten up again already.   Two tired, exhausted puppies survived an eight-mile hike from Killington Peak after taking the Gondola to the summit.   The gondola ride was as scenic as remembered, the view at the summit was as expansive as ever, and we dodged the "off-limits for construction" signs to take the boardwalk (catwalk) around to another ski lift and access to Coopers Shelter.  Someone else has been up there doing trail maintenance and cleared a couple of water hazards.  Ron removed 10 trees and created/cleaned three water bars.  GMC 7 hrs, sawed & removed 10 small trees, moved detritus from 3 water drainages put to bolster water bars, and created another.

Killington Peak

28 Jul, Sunday:  Will we rest today?  Sort of.  We hiked to the sinkhole on the Sherburne Pass Trail and cleaned water bars.  Cynthia was quite proud of cleaning out water-logged branches from an older part of the trail.  Ron preferred having the logs disintegrate and build up the old trail.  But she isn't going to move them back.  She likes clean and neat.  The heat & humidity is back and our room is not air-conditioned.  Ron is almost finished with the 30 sudokus that Oke gave him but still needs to show Oke the peculiarity in the last of them.  GMC 4 hrs, moved detritus from water drainages onto water bars - Sherbourne Pass Trail aka old AT.

27 Jul: Easy Peasy?  The Kent Pond hike to Thundering Falls is an easier, familiar hike, but it wasn't easy peasy, because we weren't rested enough from three days of tough hikes.  Ron cleaned out water bars and moved the dirt to build up the trail over several large tree roots. At least one fallen tree was removed.   Wynken and Blynken agreed to Nod early and sailed off to bed after another exhausting day.  Unfortunately, Cynthia awakened at 5:45 and didn't get back to sleep.  GMC 4 hrs, moved dirt from water drainages onto water bars, rocks & roots, AT.

First cut did not drop, but second one did.

26 Jul:  After yesterday's tough hike, we shoulda taken it easy, but we did not.  There was trail maintenance to be done, fallen trees to be removed, water bars to be cleaned out and new ones to be built.  Our hike to Jungle Junction (7.2 miles roundtrip) was exhausting.  The weather is pleasant, that helps.  The mosquitoes are not pleasant, but the straw hats really help keep them out of our faces. The view from the ski run was quite lovely.  The Inn at Long Trail is a terrific place to stay; they feed us hearty meals we can eat.  Cynthia's hiking goal at the end of two months is to be able to hike ten mile days without exhaustion.  GMC 6 hrs, sawed & removed 2 12" diameter trees, moved rocks, remodeled water bars & stream exits - old AT.

view from ski run, 2 miles uphill

25 Jul: Oh my!  The Deer LeapTrail to Kent Pond was only 4 miles; even the downhill was even tough.  But, that uphill return was almost straight UP!  The trail starts over a very rocky section that is quite a challenge.  Thereafter the idiot trail maintainers throw brush into the water drainages in some misbegotten idea that hikers cause erosion.  (It amazes us that the maintainers don't maintain the trail, and instead throw brushy trash along their "official" route to force hikers into a muddy messy caused by their lack of maintenance.)  GMC 5 hrs, sawed a couple of trees, moved brush out of water bar channels, moved several rocks - Deer Leap Trail & AT.

24 Jul:  Another day of hiking up to the ski run.  Ron carried his hiking hoe to do stream-bed maintenance and cleaned out several water bars.  GMC 5 hrs, hoed open & improved a dozen water bars - old AT.

23 Jul:  We woke up!  Yay!  As soon as the rain stopped we hiked the Kent Pond Trail.  It is our best choice when the trail is sloppy.  Probably more than a dozen hikers were hustling northbound on the A.T., while we passed only one southbound hiker.  We really enjoyed a visit with Dana G., a Long Trail hiker.  The best part of hiking is the people we meet!  Thundering Falls surprised us by looking no different than two days ago before a full 24 hours of rain.  Ron thoroughly enjoys trail maintenance (as well as stream bed maintenance), so he carried a sack to transport loose rocks uphill to drop into puddles to improve the hike (more weightlifting that is supposed to be good for oldsters.)  Ron finally forced himself to leave a few sudokus for another day and inserted the index into Volume 7 of the Colonial Records.  It appears that his notes were adequate and accurate.  Next step is to refine the index.  Either that or work on the newly ordered Likens package for the Swedish Colonial Society.  GMC 5 hrs, placed rocks in puddles - AT.

22 Jul:  Light rain.  Light rain ALL day.  Cold rain.  We chose to do no hiking.  Even Ron decided against going outside to get cold and wet.  Oh, well, God is blessing the earth.  Hansel and Gretel, a delightful hiker couple from Germany, joined us during dinner.  We like their unique trail names!  And we became new great grandparents of Caleb Eugene, 11 pounds and 1 ounce at 8:11 PM.  Caleb joins sisters Abigayle and Elanore.  Ron focused on sudokus almost exclusively ALL day.  These new sudokus are very difficult, and Ron now has one more sudoku with mistakes to correct.

21 Jul:  The Inn at Long Trail (click here) is experiencing the hiker "Bubble" on the A.T. combined with more traffic on the Long Trail.  This means the Inn is very busy, but Chef Reggie still manages to prepare food we can eat.  He made hummus without oil or sodium, and a really delicious Sangria sorbet.  Every evening we have baked sweet potatoes, steamed veggies, and high fiber Irish Soda Bread.  Three or four times a week he prepares salmon for us.  Today Ron hiked to Jungle Junction (7.26 miles roundtrip) alone and removed a couple more fallen trees from the trail.  He accomplished this herculean task in three and a half hours.  He thinks he survived.  Cynthia is astonished at his hiking speed, and his energy level is amazing. Cynthia did a Zero (a day without hiking).  She completed two essays for the #52 Ancestor Challenge in addition to submitting a Bankston YDNA project to a genetic analyst.  Tomorrow we might do another big hike.  We are discussing hiking southbound (SOBO in trail lingo) from Harper's Ferry next spring, but Cynthia asks, "Are we really in the condition to hike southbound in the spring?"  Check back in two months after we hike for a month and spend another two weeks at Pritikin.  Ron overheard hikers introduce themselves as Hansel and Gretel, so he wandered over to chat a few minutes.
Ron's stats: to the resting rock 21 minutes, to the sinkholes 36 minutes, to the ski run 61 minutes, to the shelter 80 minutes, to Jungle Junction 90 minutes.  That meant that he could enjoy sawing for nearly an hour.  Murray's Stiehl saw is only two teeth bigger than the bigger tree.  Both trunks were five feet long, and Ron was anxious that he might not be able to move them, but weight lifting is reputed to be good for older folks, and he was able to turn both logs end-over-end without hurting himself.  GreenMountainClub 3.5 hrs sawed through & removed two 14" trees from old AT (Sherbourne Pass trail.)

20 Jul:  Again, this morning, we are sitting in the restaurant of the Inn, Cynthia with Mac and Ron with sudokus in hand, both feeling exhausted and mighty sore from that ambitious seven-plus mile hike yesterday.  Onward and upward, we (Cynthia) are each hoping the other would say we shouldn't hike, but we will.   We chose the Kent Pond Trail to the Thundering Falls Trailhead because it doesn't have a big elevation gain.  Ron sawed through four small trees that had fallen across the trail.  Our 5.82 mileage seems insignificant in comparison to our exhaustion!  Reggie, the chef, prepared hummus without any oil or sodium for Cynthia.  YUM!  And the sorbet is wonderful.  GMC 5 hrs, sawed & removed 4 small trees from AT.

19 Jul:  We are sitting in the restaurant of the Inn with Mac and sudokus in hand, marveling at the garden view out the windows.  Patty and Murray have created a colorful tiered rock garden, and in the middle is a sculpture of a hiker with a heart.  Aweeeee!  Today's forecast is high heat and humidity.  The cloud cover, along with significant elevation gain and a lovely cool breeze made it a wonderful hike.  The stretch from the ski run to the junction is rough with roots and rocks.  According to Cynthia's Apple Watch, we hiked seven-plus miles.  We reached Jungle Junction where the A.T./ Long Trail and the Sherburne Pass Trail converge.  Ron sawed a few trees that had fallen across the trail, and he gave up on one and ignored a couple of others too.   GMC 6 hrs, sawed & removed 3 trees from old AT.

18 Jul:  We are going hiking since rain is not dominating the forecast.  And a few hours later, we are home after exhausting ourselves; six days of not hiking or walking took a toll.  Or maybe age is catching up with us?  We met a lot of hikers; 'Sunnyside Up' is a lovely girl from Martha's Vineyard who hiked most of the trail last year and is back at it again.  Ron didn't wear a tightly woven long-sleeve shirt, so a billion mosquito's proboscis dive-bombed into his back.  He looks like a case of the mumps.  We like the idea of doing a southbound A.T. hike next year starting at Harper's Ferry - maybe... just maybe.  Granddaughter Zoe landed in Thailand for summer work at an elephant sanctuary and teaching ESL; she is officially a freshman in college. YAY!  And granddaughter Corrie is 41 weeks pregnant with Caleb.  YAY for babies.  GMC 5 hrs, water bar maintenance on old AT.

17 Jul:  Inn at Long Trail, Killington, Vermont:  We may have slept nine hours.  It rained all night and all day.  Cynthia worked on her DNA article, plus updating the Bankston DNA for further genetic analysis.  Ron worked on Sudokus all day until he was bleary-eyed and then some.  Getting old is hard work, so mid-afternoon, we took a nap.  At 6 PM we enjoyed a light dinner of potatoes and salad before returning to our sudokus etc.

16 Jul:  BIRTHDAY !!  We celebrated by napping for three hours.  Okie has a lot of Sudokus for Ron, plus a puzzle!  Imagine that.  Cynthia had lots of text and email birthday wishes that made her very happy.  Annie sent a fun package of notes, watercolor greeting cards, a Norwegian recipe card, a protective cross to carry with us on the bike, and a photo of Cynthia at age 13.  Cynthia sent a photo of the photo to granddaughter Zoe and asked who it looked like.  Zoe said, "DAD!"  Son Paul said, "I don't ever remember having hair like that."  That just shows that even Paul is becoming forgetful.

15 Jul:  Cynthia is awake at 1 AM, 2 AM, 3 AM and finally out of bed at four AM.  The alarm is set for 5 AM.  Oh well.  The 7:40 AM  flight out of Houston was on time; Ron arrived in Rutland in time to put ten or twenty pieces into the very colorful jigsaw puzzle they have out to entertain those of us who puzzle.  The Smooches are happily reunited, fedified, and ensconced back into "our" room at the Inn at Long Trail.  And a good time was had by all.  The puzzle of the day is to wonder why the GPS decided to route Ron west on NH 124 to US 5 S to Keene to NH 12 N to finally get to NH 123 west into Vermont rather than merely turning left on 123 at the start.  Oh, now that I try it on Google maps, the difference is only ONE mile.

14 Jul, Sunday:  Ron is breakfasted and about to ride to Watertown to visit Richard one more time before riding to Sharon, NH to visit Margie and Richard.  The ride to Sharon was lovely, leaving Watertown via Bedford Road out to I-95 north for six miles to MA 225 back to Dave's house to pick up luggage and say goodbyes, then continuing out 225 until MA 110 N to 119 N to Townsend, MA where a bumpy road connects to NH 124 N to NH 123 N to Jarmany Hill Road.  Cynthia (in Texas) is going to worship at Grace Lutheran followed by Brunch with grandchildren. Tonight, she will drop off the rental car at the airport and overnight at a hotel nearby because of the 6:30 AM check-in for the flight to Smooch!  Mmmmm! and Mmmmm2 !!

Mom between her two boys

13 Jul:  Carlisle, Mass.  Already since it is 1 AM again.  Today's plan is to see Maggie in Hingham.  In the meantime-and-in-between-time,  Jul 13 in Montgomery, Texas, Cynthia is missing Ron.  Family and friends created a hilarious video of her life and happy birthday wishes.  Ron also made a very hilarious video singing, ”Good Morning to You!”   Ron is so proud of himself that he didn't accidentally give away the surprise party by blabbing something inappropriately.  The first part of the ride to Hingham was fine, being the normal route: MA 225 S & E, but once Ron turned onto on I-95, the fun soon departed as the traffic was very heavy and there were several stop-and-go slowdowns that left him baking in the direct 

Jon and Kiira

sunlight.  That is the price you pay for taking the major Boston circumferential I-95 (formerly 128.)  Once he turned the corner onto I-93 N and MA 3 S, the riding again became more pleasant, and it was satisfying to see familiar landmarks from previous visits.  While Maggie was coming down to the entrance reception area, Ron struck up a conversation with Mary Ellen, who was doing 15-by-15 sudoku on the computer.  It was quite a surprise to discover that she is a retired MIT civil engineer whose 

Cheryl and Fyn

favorite job included blowing up 
bridges and dams.  The entire afternoon was delightful, and it was well worth suffering in the sun through traffic to get to Linden Ponds.  The ride back to Watertown to see Richard in the evening was better as regards traffic and sunshine, but the choice of MA 16 was a poor choice with typical big city roads in terrible condition.  Richard seemed more lively and cheerful and motivated than yesterday, but it was because he had hatched this idea that Ron could take him via motorcycle to nearby Fresh Pond where the "Jovians" had set up a timing booth that could transport Richard

Mee beloved WeeFee

 back in time to 2015 before his stroke - which would recover the function of his left hand.  The nursing staff would not consider it, and it would require his doctor's and his guardian's approvals.  No surprise there, but Richard had really hoped that it would work and was severely disappointed.

Cynthia and kids

12 Jul:  Today went very well.  At 6 AM it was raining, so it was easy to fall back to sleep.  At 8:30 AM the phone rang, but Ron thought it was his pill alarm, and it was still raining.  After morning exercises and a goodby to Kris, Ron was able to enjoy his morning oatmeal without feeling rushed to be out and about on wet roads.  By 11 AM the roads were dry and the ride to Watertown was pleasant and easy.  Richard was in the lunchroom when Ron arrived, and after lunch, asked to see the motorcycle.  Peg rolled Richard out the door and left Ron to roll Richard back inside later.  After 45 minutes, Richard told Ron that this was the longest he had been outside in a preceding year.  Formerly a good-hearted volunteer had come once a week to spend time with Richard and to take him outside on good days, but Richard hasn't seen that volunteer in a year.  About 3 PM, after a surprising rumble of thunder, Ron said good-by for today and rode to Whole Foods for luncheon salad again.  The plan was to then ride to Bob & Rachel's in Arlington for dinner, but rain intervened, so Ron ate half of the salad at Whole Foods and the other half at Bob & Rachel's after Aletta left.  It was a surprise and a delight to see Aletta and her new puppy.  It was very wonderful to see Bob, Rachel, and Aletta again for such a relaxed, comfortable visit.  Now it is again 1 PM and time for bed.

11 Jul:  Carlisle, Massachusetts.  Day one without adult supervision.  Since the motorcycle had only 11 miles worth of gasoline in the tank, it seemed a priority to find more gas, but also seemed unnecessary (to Ron) to go out of the way to get it.  By the time Ron stopped at the Shell station in Bedford, the gauge was reading only one mile left until empty.  Ron did spend all day with his crippled friend Richard at the Watertown Health Center today.  Around 3 PM Ron rode over to Whole Foods for a huge salad lunch and frozen fruit bars dessert.  Richard asked Ron to find him a pair of cotton athletic shorts, and TJ Max had those.  About 7 PM Ron rode back out to Carlisle and stayed up talking with Dave until after midnight.  (Smooch to Ron in Mass from a wide-awake Cynthia in Texas at 5:30 AM)(And Smooch back from a very sleepy Ron in Mass at 1:19 AM.)

10 Jul:  More sorbet, but no so many awakenings last night, although Cynthia complained of too many.  We breakfasted at our relaxed normal 9 PM and Ron continued packing.  The two packages we are leaving here are bulging.  The motorcycle will be packed more lightly than usual, and we are ready to eat lunch at 1 PM.  Today Ron is pleased to report that his sore legs seem to have vanished with the additional exertions of the last two days.  We had thought to hike a bit today, but Cynthia has a blister under one toenail and decided against a hike today.  The plan is that Cynthia will catch a 4 PM flight out of Rutland for Houston via Boston to celebrate her birthday with her children in Houston.  Don't be surprised if Ron fails to blog for a few days. ( Cynthia’s flight at four was on an 8 passenger puddle jumper from Rutland to Boston; after a three-hour layover, the United Fight took off against one of the most incredible sunsets arriving in Houston at 11:21 PM.  She made the mistake of watching TV newscasts on the flight. Not good. .  

9 Jul:  More sorbet and another night of multiple awakenings.  Since our legs feel good, we decided upon a longer hike to the ski run again today, and Ron found another few trees to saw and remove from blocking the trail.  Cynthia took a couple of photos of the tree that is blocking the trail to show Murray.  Tonight we made the tentative correlation that evening sorbet might be interfering with our sleep - after Ron ordered and ate a second bowl.  Ron did remember to call Dr. Dougherty's office and discovered that TODAY is the day to send the remote reading of his pacemaker to the doctor.  (done)  Now pardon me while I get busy transcribing the route to Gill and Carlisle and Watertown onto paper in preparation for tomorrow.  GMC 5 hrs, sawed & removed 3 trees from old AT.

Maybe that was a pry log

8 Jul:  We decided upon a shorter hike today to allow our legs to recuperate a bit.  Hiker Ron borrowed Murray's super sharp Stihl hand saw and sawed five fallen trees to remove them from the trail.  He was tired/ exhausted!  Imagine that!  We were in bed plenty long but woke up multiple times.  Perhaps sorbet is not a good night time dessert.  GMC 5 hrs, sawed & removed 5 trees from old AT.

First of several cuts to remove most of the tree

View from ski platform

Ron is hilariously funny!

Hiker Ron in front of A.T. white blaze

7 Jul: Which trail do we take today (after nine incredible hours of refreshing sleep)?  The Kent Pond Trail it is!  The day is delicious; great weather, a cool breeze and low humidity made it awesome.  We stopped along the lakeside a couple of times to enjoy the water.  Ron was quite surprised that the trail appears very well maintained.  We made the entire distance to Thundering Falls again.  GMC no maintenance yet - no tools.

Tyler B. All America West

Grandnephew Tyler B. was named to the Little League All America West, playing in national playoffs late July. 

Sherburne Pass Trail Before Deluge

6 Jul:  We have another few days of hiking before Cynthia departs on July 10th via Cape Air for Boston to Houston for yet another 18th birthday party.  Then Ron will be without adult supervision for five whole days until she returns.  At his age, we doubt that he will get into much trouble.  We are extremely proud of ourselves for two days of industrious hiking.  We made it to the ski run for another six-mile day.  Ron rested there, hat overhead.  The view was lovely but obscured a bit by low clouds that forecast rain.  (As did the approaching thunder.) The trail was nice and dry until the rain came when we were about thirty minutes down the mountain.  Dinner tonight at Rosemary’s Restaurant was delicious!  

Hiker Ron Resting

Mountain View of Deer Leap (white spot)

Thundering Falls and Cynthia's Finger

5 Jul at the Inn at Long Trail, Killington, Vermont:  Cynthia and I arrived in Vermont yesterday and discovered immediately, to our dismay, that we no longer have legs accustomed to hiking.  Our legs get so tired so quickly on these hills !!  But today we persevered today up and downhill for nearly  16,000 steps according to Cynthia's FitBit - 6.34 miles.  We are tired puppies, but we ate well and plan to sleep early and long.  After all, tomorrow is another day.  We hadn't actually planned to get to Vermont this early, but the heat in Philadelphia last week convinced us to hustle up here without dallying around to enjoy sweaty sightseeing.

4 Jul:  Happy Independence Day!  Hurray, today we intend to get to the Inn at Long Trail, God willing.  That will be worth celebrating, too.  Then we can go hiking uphill.  Wynn:  Today's plan is the Taconic State Parkway N to R on NY 295 E to L on CR 5 N to R on NY 20 E to L on NY 22 N to R on NY 7 N into Vermont where it changes to VT 279 to L on US 7 N to R on US 4 E to Killington and the Inn at Long Trail (click here.)  Oh goodie, I just wrote a statement that I just love, "I'd rather live fully by eating healthy rather than live poorly by eating richly."  Warning: You will see this repeated often in the next year.  And now I've come up with a suitable alternative statement,
"You can choose to eat healthy to enjoy life fully or to eat richly to enjoy life poorly."  Well, the ride to Killington went without a hitch, except that it was a bit hot all day, 90+ degrees.  The few times we saw 86 or 84 degrees seemed downright cold.  The highways in New York were busy without long vistas, but Vermont corrected that with less traffic and nice mountains up close and personal all the way to the Inn.  Thank God.

3 Jul:  Another snoozy morning, but tomorrow we need to arise earlier, so tonight we need to get to bed earlier.  After Ron's huge breakfast of omelet and multiple bowls of oatmeal with pineapple afterward, we walked the 1.3 pleasant miles to the Post Office to mail one letter to Don C. and the key to the Archives back to Lisa.  On the return trip, Ron bought a loaf of sourdough bread for the salt,  (He was a bit dizzy this morning from low blood pressure.)  Then we decided to stop at Charlie Brown's for their salad bar, which surprised us by being one of the best we've seen.  Maybe that is why the Ruby Tuesday here closed.  This afternoon, we lazed about the room and computered.  Ron is considering the index for Volume 7 after finishing these trip descriptions, but it is now 8:39 after our evening walk.  At least I have finished documenting our routes for Wynn.  (I hope she can follow our routes although the ones on Jun 24 in the city will be a challenge.)

2 Jul:  YAY!  We slept for over eight hours! YAY!  This Hilton Garden Inn offers a pleasant stay for a couple of days.  After being lazy and computering all day, we walked around the neighborhood and then to Charlie Brown's for salmon and baked potatoes.  They did an excellent preparation of the potatoes, and Cynthia declared the salad good.

1 Jul:  Birthday Month.  Little SmoochSmooch turns 18 again this month, and she celebrates all month long.  Poor old Smooch is worn out by August.  We began the heralded birthday month by riding towards our Killington, VT destination to enjoy three nights of R and R at Fishkill, NY.  The ride was particularly cool and enjoyable going through the Poconos and the Delaware Water Gap (click here.)  We started north on Maryland 27 until turning L on MD 30, then R on MD 86 which turns into PA 516 at the state line.  We stayed on 516 too long, too close to York before heading over to I-83 N to bypass York, then US 30 E to the Ruby Tuesday past our turn, so after lunch we backtracked to go North on US 222 and missed getting onto I-78 early enough to pass by Bethel, so missed opportunity to see if Popeye was home.  (I forgot that Bethel is further west and that we need to pass close by Harrisburg to get there.)  It was great fun to see Kutztown up close on 222 and remember my Uncle Vint.  Eventually, we found PA 33 N and US 209 N to Shroudsburg  and through the Delaware Water Gap (so cool in the shade) and then I-84 E across the Hudson to Fishkill (click here) and our Hilton Garden Inn where we've enjoyed doing less for a couple of days, 284 miles total today.  The GPS threw me for a loop because it wanted me to return west across the Hudson - after reflection, I realize that I set a map waypoint on the bridge, and the GPS must have placed it in the westbound lane.